With the World Cup opening ceremony commencing on Sunday, executives are finding themselves in even more drama this week following new claims that Alicia Keys, who had reportedly been booked to perform, allegedly decided to pull out at the last minute. The prestigious soccer event, which takes place in Qatar this year, is said to have struggled to attract artists to perform at the occasion due to the country’s controversial stance on human rights.
Per the Daily Mail, Shakira, rock legend Rod Stewart and Dua Lipa had all turned down “big-money offers,” so it seemed that after reportedly booking Alicia, things were looking up. Well, that was until the “Girl On Fire” singer allegedly had a dispute with the event’s choreographer Barbarana Pons, who claims the pair had been “fighting” over her request to use a piano during her set.
Do y’all hear these vocals?!! Alicia Keys is one of the greatest icons!
🎥: base (IG) pic.twitter.com/k1R2Ao8HA7
— REVOLT (@revolttv) November 16, 2022
Barbarana made the comments during her appearance on Catalan radio station RAC1, saying that she had only found out that the 41-year-old was not going to be performing anymore the night prior to the interview. It’s unclear whether Alicia’s gig was being kept as a surprise, given that World Cup officials hadn’t publicly announced her involvement as a performer yet.
Meanwhile, singer Dua Lipa recently took to her Instagram Stories to address reports that she had been approached to grace the stage for a medley of her hits, stressing that she was certainly not going to be there. The “Rules” hitmaker added that while she’ll be looking forward to cheering England from the comfort of her own home, she wouldn’t be stepping foot into Qatar until their laws are revised.
🚨 Alicia Keys has began producing her new biopic on Broadway! It will be a musical titled, “Hell’s Kitchen” and will star Eden Espinosa as Alicia’s mother. pic.twitter.com/y8DxIXCDGX
— Alicia Keys Daily (@AliciaKeysDaiIy) November 15, 2022
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“There is a lot of speculation that I will be performing at the opening ceremony of the World Cup in Qatar,” she wrote. “I will be cheering England on from afar and I look forward to visiting Qatar when it has fulfilled all the human rights pledges it made when it won the right to host the World Cup.”
Rock legend Sir Rod Stewart, per the Daily Mail, was offered $1 million to perform at the World Cup, which insiders say he turned down because he doesn’t agree with the way in which Qatar deals with its views on human rights, such as deeming same-sex marriage illegal. Being a homosexual in a country such as Qatar is prohibited and, if prosecuted, those individuals can face several years in prison among other extreme measures as punishment.